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Keith Law released (insider required) the final group of his organizational rankings today with farm systems 1-10. The Yankees, who once had a farm system closer to the bottom than the top of the list, now rank second in all of baseball. They jumped up from their ranking of 13th last season.
Law mentions the deadline deals Brian Cashman pulled off to bring in three of the team’s top six prospects with Gleyber Torres and Clint Frazier being the biggest gets. The other half has actually come from the team’s own drafts, which will hopefully put to rest the notion that the Yankees don’t draft well before too long.
One of the best things about Law’s comments is that he mentions the balanced nature of the team. They aren’t short on pitching, outfielders, or infield talent. Considering the team’s great need for pitching and how dire the farm system has been in that regard, having the hope of help on the way is welcome news.
It sounds like Law expects at least a couple of these prospects to make it to the big leagues at some point in 2017. That’s a good bet for guys like Frazier and probably Jordan Montgomery. Torres is quickly rising through the system as well, but seems more like a 2018 arrival at this stage unless someone gets injured.
It almost feels weird to have such praise heaped upon the Yankees’ farm system after a number of years where it was in pretty sad shape. Cashman and co. deserve so much credit for how they have been able to turn the organization into something not only respectable, but one of the best in all of baseball.
Now the Yankees wait for their farm system to produce at the big league level and hope that the majority of them turn into regulars at the highest level. Some of that should start at some point this season, and the promise of that is really exciting to look forward to.